GUI definition in external file

[onno.willems@gmail.com]

Hi,

A little part of my (.NET 2.0) WinForm GUI need to be configurable by
a user. The user can specify a variable number of items which should
appear on a form like this:
<Label<Label<Co mboBox>
<Label<Label<Co mboBox>
<Label<Label<Te xtBox>
<Label<Label<Ch eckBox>
etc
I want to store the (user changeable) definition for this in an
external XML file. My 1st thought was reading the XML file and filling
a DataGridView, but you can't seem to mix Edit/Text/Checkboxes in a
single grid because you set the type by column. Ow well, I think I can
generate the GUI dynamically placing the controls in a panel with
AutoScroll set to True.

But the user needs to be able to add a little dynamic behavior too.
For example, if combobox1 has value "SomeValue1 " and CheckBox2 is
checked, TextBox1 should be disabled.

Any thoughts on how I can achieve this?

Thanks,
Onno

[Tom Shelton]

Re: GUI definition in external file

On Apr 3, 9:15 am, onno.will...@gm ail.com wrote:

Hi,
>
A little part of my (.NET 2.0) WinForm GUI need to be configurable by
a user. The user can specify a variable number of items which should
appear on a form like this:
<Label<Label<Co mboBox>
<Label<Label<Co mboBox>
<Label<Label<Te xtBox>
<Label<Label<Ch eckBox>
etc
I want to store the (user changeable) definition for this in an
external XML file. My 1st thought was reading the XML file and filling
a DataGridView, but you can't seem to mix Edit/Text/Checkboxes in a
single grid because you set the type by column. Ow well, I think I can
generate the GUI dynamically placing the controls in a panel with
AutoScroll set to True.
>
But the user needs to be able to add a little dynamic behavior too.
For example, if combobox1 has value "SomeValue1 " and CheckBox2 is
checked, TextBox1 should be disabled.
>
Any thoughts on how I can achieve this?
>
Thanks,
Onno

Hmmm... maybe using xaml and wpf? I haven't played a lot with the
loading of external xaml, but it should be doable. I think you may
even be able to do some of the stuff your trying to do using xaml
databinding and triggers....

--
Tom Shelton

[Onno]

Re: GUI definition in external file

Hmmm...  maybe using xaml and wpf?  I haven't played a lot with the

loading of external xaml, but it should be doable.  I think you may
even be able to do some of the stuff your trying to do using xaml
databinding and triggers....

Thanks! But wpf is not part of .NET 2.0 (or can it be done?) And can
you mix wpf with a WinForm app (have one part of a form be filled in
by WPF?)

Regards,
Onno

[Tom Shelton]

Re: GUI definition in external file

On Apr 6, 4:16 am, Onno <onno.will...@g mail.comwrote:

Hmmm...  maybe using xaml and wpf?  I haven't played a lot with the
loading of external xaml, but it should be doable.  I think you may
even be able to do some of the stuff your trying to do using xaml
databinding and triggers....

>
Thanks! But wpf is not part of .NET 2.0 (or can it be done?) And can
you mix wpf with a WinForm app (have one part of a form be filled in
by WPF?)
>
Regards,
Onno

It's part of 3.0 - which is the 2.0 runtime with extra libraries.
And, there is an addin for vs2005 for wpf. And yes, you can mix and
match winforms and wpf (even on the same form).

VS2005 Addin:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=F54F5537-CC86-4BF5-AE44-F5A1E805680D&displaylang=en

--
Tom Shelton